The Blessed Land of Mindanao For the Filipinos, Not For Foreigners

“Araw-araw sinisira ang aming mga pananim, inaagaw ang aming mga lupain at takot kami na patayin. Kami po ang isang libong pamilyang Ilocano at kami po ay nananawagan ng agarang tulong sa aming MAHAL NA KABABAYANG PANGULONG PRESBBM para mabigyang solusyon ang pang aagaw ng lupa na aming sinasakahan”.

 Hard-working, compassionate, and with high reverence to nature, some 1,000 Ilocano farmers coming from La Union, Pangasinan and Tarlac known as LAPANTAR came to Mindanao in the 1950s and 60s as settlers and have wonderfully developed the blessed land in Amai Manabilang known then as Bumbaran (Francfort and Upperport). In the last 60 years, the settlers and their descendants have wonderfully developed their agricultural lands sustainably following nature and sustenance economy, treating nature as like a “home” where their basic needs and the communities are provided for. Well, their long years of farming speak well that they have already acquired prior rights over their land, following diversified and integrated sustainable agriculture and the ones supplying vegetables ie., cabbage, potato, carrots, etc. to Davao and Cagayan de Oro City and the ones supplying sugarcanes to two manufacturing sugar plants, namely Crystal and BUSCO.

What pains them no end is that in the process of driving them out, violence is being employed. What is so troubling was what happened on JULY 16, 2000 when some 21 Ilocano farmers including a pregnant woman were forced to enter the mosque and then MASSACRED. Such horrible crime was even disallowed to be covered by the Media. After more than two decades, no killer has been arrested. All the farmer-residents are now suffering so much anguished and living in fear now and then, their planted crops i.e., sugarcanes, vegetables, corn, and root crops which are supposed to be harvested are now being tractor and destroyed without let-up since last year until now.

Glaringly, instilling fear and harassment and destruction of their farm crops are means of massive coercion for eviction.  Thus, the 1000 Ilocano farmers have written an open letter to the President seeking an immediate solution to stop the land grabbing activity of Kennemer Foods International, Inc. and Asia Pacific Precision Agriculture Group. In their letter to His Excellency, to quote, “We are continuously harassed to leave our lands through Notices to Vacate printed in tarpaulins and conspicuously placed in strategic areas in our Brgy. Sumogot are all aware that there is no such thing as land ownership by SPDA to show proof that our Barangay is covered by AIDP guarded by armed personnel, KPI and ASPAC Group is now encroaching our lands using heavy equipment tractors witnessed helplessly by affected farmers for fear of their lives and the possible reprisal that will result to unwanted bloodshed. What is so puzzling is that in the process of destroying our farms, there is always the presence of the AFP and the PNP who are brandishing their powerful weapons in support of the corporations’ criminal acts of tractoring our farms. Hon. DND SECRETARY TEODORO, may we respectfully request an urgent investigation. The PNP and AFP must exercise their mandate to protect the Filipino People and not the interest of powerful corporations.”

The root cause of the problem is the claim of SPDA that it already owns some 26,000 hectares, 10,000 in Amai Manabilang and 16,000 in Wao Lanao del Sur under a Presidential Proclamation. As recently declared by incumbent Mayor Elvino Balicao Jr. of Wao Lanao Del Sur, “We are not allowing the entry of corporations as it will displace hundreds of farmers who have been issued already by the LGU an Individual Property Rights (IPR), as they, like the Ilocano Settlers in Amai Manabilang, have already acquired prior rights. Our land is for Agro-forestry to protect vanishing creations not for massive plantations using toxic chemicals that kill the eco-systems.” Such should also happen in Amai Manabilang but the LGU is not for the farmers but pro-corporations. Such social wrong should be rectified by no less than His Excellency.

In a meeting called by no less than the Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao, Hon. Sec. Leo Magno, SPDA Administrator for Mindanao Adm. Cris Degala together with Engr. Pascual gave a mapping presentation disclosing that there are no Ilocano Settlers farming in Upper Sumogot but some only in 2023.  Such disclosure is a blatant lie. We are emphatically and categorically belying such contention as more than one hundred Ilocano settlers and their descendants have occupied and have been farming the Upper Sumogot area since the 1960s and 70s transformed the area into a community with a chapel and an elementary school in the early 1990s. Glaringly, SPDA together with the corporations, the LGU in Amai Manabilang is doing outpourings of outright lies and misinformation to hide the Ilocano settlers’ prior rights as that office has been the recipient of funds from these corporations at the expense of the Ilocano settlers.

“We stand to reject the offer of KPI and ASPAC Group to give way to their rent offer of sixteen thousand pesos per hectare of the land, we are currently tilling now, we planted with cash crops, vegetables, and sugarcane which are our sources of income to feed our families and send our children to school. Our source of livelihood is solely farming, and we must to public lands. The agrarian reform program is founded on the right of landless farmers, to own directly or collectively the lands they till and to receive just a share of the fruits they planted thereof. A meeting took place on April 26, 2023, at the Covered Court of Barangay Sumogot to relay to the farmers the plan of Kennemer and SPDA. During the Open Forum, Noel Subido stood to give his reactions saying that the 16,000 as rental per hectare is not enough for a family to survive and presented their right over their land, he was pushed, kicked, and mauled by the bodyguards of the mayor and the presence of the AFP and PNP who have done nothing to stop the mauling.

“Mr. President, we the Ilocano farmers of Barangay Sumogot are strongly opposed on the call of SPDA to “change the agricultural landscape into more efficient farming technology, food security, job generation and better quality of life for the communities in Amai Manabilang and Wao, Lanao del Sur.”

It was the gallant stand of the Sumogot farmers not only in standing for their land right but on their firm stand NOT JUST TO ALLOW FOREIGN CORPORATIONS to convert their land into massive plantations at their own expense. Farming has been their way of life since their ancestors came as settlers in the 1950s and 60s they have provided their families with basic needs, treating nature as like a “home.” For them, DEVELOPMENT must follow the declaration of the United Nations in promoting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). First, DEVELOPMENT must be ecologically sustainable (not to destroy nature but to nurture it). Second, it must be socially inclusive (meaning, it must be responsive to the needs of the people and not of the corporation or government). Third, it must have people’s participation as primary stakeholders, the people should first be consulted as it is for them that development is being pursued. If these criteria are not followed, no development can take place, only maldevelopment or development aggression.  

“MAHAL NAMING PANGULO, MAAWA PO KAYO SA AMING MGA NAULILANG MINAMAHAL SA BUHAY NA NGAYON AY LABIS PONG PAGHIHINAGPIS AT PANGINGINIG SA TAKOT, ANG AMING PONG PANAWAGAN AY IHINTO NA PO ANG PAGSIRA NG AMING MGA PANANIM AT PANG-AAGAW NG AMING MGA LUPAIN AT WALANG HINTONG PANANAKOT SA AMIN”.

Indeed, the entry of foreign corporations in Amai Manabilang and Wao should be studied very well which although done in the name of promoting AGRO-INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT may displace thousands of Filipinos just to accommodate foreign corporations to maximize consumer goods and not maximize values which is the imperative call of the times. Indeed, our land in Mindanao is for the Filipinos not for foreigners. Through our cooperation, we will harness our collective potential not only to make our land productive but to go into the value chain so that development can be pursued OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE, all for God’s greater glory!